LOGINEloiseThe sight was terrible.I couldn’t even believe what I was seeing, so we rushed over to the man who had turned into flesh and blood.Elijah helped him sit up straight, with the utmost care, while I examined his wounds.I immediately summoned the power of healing into my hands, but the forest spirit took my hands and gently pushed them aside.“No healing,” he whispered painfully.“But—”“No, I want to die,” said the spirit, and I froze. “Death will finally come for me, and I will end the loneliness and suffering to which I was condemned. The only thing I ask of you is that you take care of my creatures; they will be unprotected until the forest’s magic settles. I leave that shared responsibility to both of you; I know you will succeed.”The man began coughing up thick, black blood.“That—”“Say nothing. You have saved the forest, and the creatures will be loyal to you because they know your intentions. However, you must be careful, for what the evil ones seek lies at the heart o
EloiseI could feel the tension in Elijah’s body.He stood up immediately, as if he knew where to go, but I took his hand.“Where are you going?” I asked right away.“To check on something,” Elijah said immediately.I saw the surprise on Dinora’s face, as if she understood something I hadn’t thought of, and then she spoke.“That’s how you found out; you’re a shareholder and majority partner in the bank,” she murmured in disbelief. “Hall never found out who the wolf behind the witches’ aid was, so he didn’t know who to blackmail. But it’s clear that everything was right there, under our noses. It makes perfect sense that you’re the owner.”I froze, not quite understanding what was happening.“Did you do that on purpose?” Elijah asked, looking at Dinora seriously.“Yes,” she said, and I frowned. “I wanted to know if you knew about the bank vault, and I wanted to verify that the journals were in that vault. You’ve answered both questions without a hitch.”Then I finally understood.The d
EloiseMy words hit her like a punch.She believed it and didn’t hesitate, as if she knew what might happen, as if she understood the situation, and that really got on my nerves. Especially because it could mean they didn’t give a damn about what happened.“You’re not surprised,” Elijah whispered tensely. “It was something you expected.”Dinora looked at the table in confusion but then nodded.She tried to speak, tried to say something, but she was in shock, as if she couldn’t get a word out. My brother approached her, and that made her look up.“If you knew what was going to happen, why did you let it go on?” Emmett asked with an unusual sharpness.And maybe that was what finally made her open up.“I wasn’t sure,” she admitted, and I could feel her sincerity. “The plans were always designed to withstand a shift in the balance, not a breakdown of it. That’s how it had all been set up for eons.”“What happened?” I asked immediately."Hall, is what happened,” my brother said, and I look
EloiseThe prison felt much colder than usual.People were on edge; there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, and the guards were making more rounds than usual. All of this was due to the new protocols that Nalia had created and adapted for the new prisoners, especially for Dinora.The guards took my father’s wife to a different security chamber, one that was ten levels deep, near the large dungeon.And that said a lot about how they had classified the woman.All the Alphas had endorsed this treatment, and Dinora, at this point, knew she had everything to lose. It was clear she must have known about the place. Unlike me, she did have a say and influence in my parents’ decisions, even though she wasn’t formally the Luna of the Steel Fangs Pack. And that’s exactly what makes all her actions more than illegal.She’s a damn slut; she deserves the worst in the world, Alondra said without hesitation.I took a deep breath and looked at my brother, who stood firmly by my side.He hadn’t
EloiseElijah ran over to me and checked on me.“I’m fine, nothing happened to me,” I told him calmly.“They could have hurt you,” he said, looking worried.“They didn’t, so don’t worry,” I said and kissed him. “Everything’s under control now.”The women looked at us with confusion; then the Alphas appeared to fetch them, and finally the crowd began to disperse. But all the Alphas looked at Elijah.“We’ll go,” said the Alpha leader. “We’ll establish the coalition; we can’t wait any longer. At any moment, this could turn into a disaster of epic proportions that we wouldn’t be able to handle. It was a pleasure to see you, Eloise.”The people left in a hurry, and I was left feeling anxious.I hadn’t seen the confrontation; I hadn’t dealt with whatever it was they’d seen, but I could sense the scent of dark, corrupt magic lingering in the air.Half an hour later, we all got into the cars to return to the pack.The security protocol was activated, so we were all on guard, watching out for
Eloise“How did you find out about this?” Dinora asked me point-blank.I stepped up to her firmly and faced her.“We picked up a few tricks from Hall,” I said, and then the videos of her son with a group of wolves extorting people played. She was in shock. “The Sect wasn’t so smart after all; they really forgot that the details are everything.”If she had been pale before, when I mentioned the Sect, that woman nearly vanished.Dinora tried to leave, but she was held back by guards from my pack; then several Alphas blocked her path, and when she saw me, she knew there was no escape.“You’re going to pay for this, Eloise,” she snapped furiously.“Maybe so, but you’re going to answer for the crimes you’re helping to carry out,” I snapped back without hesitation.Guards from various packs took the water and began dumping everything out.I sensed a slight shift in the atmosphere, a shift that only Elijah felt, and he looked at everyone.“I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need all







